"Crusher" Cap Fit Question

[Captain Krunch]

I got a new crusher cap from What Price Glory today in size 7 1/4. It's a nice cap, but a bit too loose - I could slide it all the way down my head if my ears didn't get in the way! So I'm going to try to get a 7 1/8 cap sent so I can compare them, but I wanted to know what you guys suggest should be a proper fit for a crusher cap, or any other hat for that matter. Any pointers you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[Bogie1943]

I had the same problem with my crusher from USWings, it is a bit too big even though it is my normal size of 6 7/8. I would suggest sending it back and getting a size small or measure your head and send that measurement to Jerry and see what he says about it.

[Captain Krunch]

I'm kinda-sorta already following your suggestion. But instead of me shipping the first cap back, Jerry is sending me a second cap in size 7 1/8. That way, I can try on both caps together and determine which one is the best fit.

In addition, Jerry is going to be sending a 2nd size 7 1/4 cap because the brim of the one I got yesterday was off-center by about a quarter of an inch. So if I decide to keep the 7 1/4, I won't have to wait for a third shipment from him. To be fair with Jerry I've already paid a second time for the second cap, and will get a refund later, but the third cap he's sending is on his own risk; that's pretty good customer service.

To help me get the right fit, I'm also going to do take screen grabs of Gregory Peck wearing his crusher in "Twelve O'Clock High" for comparison purposes. I figure that if it looks good on him, it'll look good on me!

[Bogie1943]

Good deal, Jerry has always been really great when dealing with his customers. I talk to him on AOL all the time. Whenever I have a questions about an item or something war related, he is always helpful. Great person to do business with, great products.

[patterson]

Yep - Jerry is one of the good guys. I picked-up my original Mk VII bag from him - $10 unissued new a few years back. He makes the best reproduction crusher at any price. Mine too ran a bit larger than the 7 3/4 it is marked - but that worked better for me anyway.

[Captain Krunch]

I got the two replacement caps last night, and as lbad luck would have it, the 7 1/8 is just a bit too small, and the 7 1/4 is a bit too big. But this 7 1/4 cap is a bit smaller than the one I got last week, so that helps. Actually, the 7 1/4 fits fairly comfortably, but there's not enough friction to keep the cap on during "hard manuevers" (Like the upside-down manuever a crewmember makes when entering the nose of a B-17). So I think I'm going to keep the cap and just insert one of those hat spacer things behind the headband for some additional friction. I'll also go ahead and remove the front "stand" to allow the front to flop down naturally (My goal is to get it to look like Gregory Peck's cap from "Twelve O'Clock High").

Now all I'll have to do is work the hat to make it crush properly. Anyone have any suggestions on how to approach this?

One bothersome thing about these caps I got is that the 7 1/8 cap also has the brim off-center from the rest of the cap by over 1/4 inch. I don't know where Jerry gets his caps made, but I'm not too impressed with the quality-control. I dunno, maybe real WWII caps were made off-center, but if they weren't, I find it hard to believe these caps are getting through the QA check. A bit disappointing to say the least.

[patterson]

Originally posted by Captain Krunch
...there's not enough friction to keep the cap on during "hard manuevers" (Like the upside-down manuever a crewmember makes when entering the nose of a B-17).

Well, you'd have your headgear holding the cap down (or would that technically be "up"?) during that particular manuever! (grin)

They do not tend to fit very snug. Also, they do lend themselves well to putting a bit of cardboard into the band to adjust the size.

[Captain Krunch]

Patterson, thanks for the cardboard tip; I tried that and it did the trick. It gives the cap just enough friction to stay on a bit better than before.

[Bogie1943]

Basically you are going to have to pick the best one out of the crushers you now have, which ever fits the best and go with that one, you may have to put a little foam behind the band and that should do it. That's what I would do in this situation, oh and btw, I love the new Indy DVDs, haha.